Armenia - 5859 Pigs Died of Epidemic

[Joseph]

5859 PIGS DIED OF EPIDEMIC

KarabakhOpen
13-11-2007 18:43:34

The government continues to make efforts to prevent the epidemic
of the African plague. The disease is spread most in the regions
of Martakert and Askeran. As of now, the plague has affected 23
communities in Askeran and 21 communities in Martakert.

The head of the cattle inspection of the ministry of agriculture told
Karabakh-Open.com the African plague was detected in 12 communities
of the region of Kashatagh, and in 4 communities in Shushi. It was
detected in one place in Hadrut and Shahumyan each. The stock of pigs
in the country is about 31 thousand. As of November 12, 5299 pigs have
died. Another 560 were killed to prevent the epidemic from spreading.

The government continues to buy meat of healthy cattle from farmers
for 800 drams per kg.

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg210538.html

[kent nickell]

Re: Armenia - 5859 Pigs Died of Epidemic

Thanks Joseph, here are a few earlier articles...

http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000612/index.html

African Swine Fever likely to be widespread in Georgia
EC/FAO/OIE call for rigorous control campaign of a national emergency

26 June 2007, Rome ? There is strong evidence that the devastating pig disease African Swine Fever is widely spread across Georgia, FAO warned today.

A joint mission of the European Commission, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and FAO called for immediate and rigorous control measures requiring substantial international assistance.

The mission reported that by mid-June 52 of 65 districts were suspected to be affected by African Swine Fever, more than 30 000 pigs died and a total of 22 000 pigs have been culled.

African Swine Fever (ASF) is a highly contagious viral disease of pigs. It causes fever and results in high pig mortality. African Swine Fever does not affect humans. It is a transboundary animal disease with the potential for wide international spread.

There is no vaccine against the disease; controlling animal movement and stamping out is the only remedy to avoid spillover of the disease to healthy animals, wildlife or even local ticks.

?The Republic of Georgia faces an exceptionally difficult situation,? the mission concluded. ?Keeping pigs in open grazing, the wide distribution of infected pigs before the first confirmation of the disease, and the limited human and financial resources are difficult circumstances constraining an effective control campaign.?

A significant wild boar population will also complicate short- and long-term control of ASF. Aggressive control measures limiting the contact between domestic and wild pigs are essential in order to avoid that the virus becomes adapted to wild pigs.

?With rapid and appropriate control measures, it may be possible that confined pig farms and even some districts can be kept free of infection. However, without such interventions, there is a real risk that Georgia may lose most of its pig population to African Swine Fever in the coming months,? the mission stated.

Georgia has about half a million pigs, kept mainly in back yards and in small farms.

African Swine Fever may have entered Georgia from the port of Poti on the Black Sea and then spread eastwards. It can be assumed that pigs had access to contaminated waste from ships.

National emergency

The mission stated that a national control campaign should ? under current circumstances - avoid the depopulation of the entire national pig population. Every effort should be made to protect virus-free areas from infection and progressively eliminate the virus in affected areas.

The mission made the following recommendations:

All pigs within infected herds and in contact herds must be culled;

Carcasses must be burnt or buried deeply on site;

The ban on pig movements and marketing should be continued and enforced;

Pigs should be totally confined and should have no contacts with wild boar;

Strict entry and exit controls between all infected and free areas should be continued and enforced;

Vehicles and people entering and leaving farms should apply strict disinfection procedures;

Pig owners should be compensated for their losses in order to increase compliance with control measures;

Swill feeding should be strictly controlled;

Analysis of clinical suspicion of disease should be followed up by national or international reference laboratory confirmation;

The reporting of African Swine Fever, and methods for prevention, need to be improved through communication campaigns targeting farmers and the training of veterinarians.
The mission described the African Swine Fever crisis in Georgia as a national emergency; control, eradication and recovery measures will require considerable financial resources.

Beyond Georgia

To date, neighbouring countries have not reported outbreaks of African Swine Fever. However, due to the probably ongoing movement of pigs and pig products between Georgia and neighbouring countries, spread of the virus can not be excluded. Infected wild boar might also contribute to the spread. Countries that share a border with Georgia should be on high alert.

Pigs can acquire African Swine Fever by eating infected meat or tissues, by direct contact with an infected pig, and by contact with contaminated material and equipment, such as buckets, needles, clothing and vehicles. In Africa, the virus is also known to be transmitted by ticks.

ASF virus may remain viable for long periods in infected pig tissues, meat and processed pig products, which should not enter the food chain.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact:
Erwin Northoff
Media Relations, FAO
erwin.northoff@fao.org
(+39) 06 570 53105
(+39) 348 252 3616

and...

communicated by:
Dr Chris Oura and Dr Linda Dixon
OIE Reference lab for ASF
Institute for Animal Health
Pirbright, UK
< Chris.Oura@bbsrc.ac.uk>

[Drs Oura and Dixon are gratefully acknowledged for this 1st-hand,
authoritative information. The OIE ASF reference laboratory at Pirbright
deserves to be warmly commended for the expediency of its handling of this
case; notably, the samples were received from Georgia on a Saturday (2 Jun
2007) and the diagnosis was obtained during the same weekend, namely on
Sunday, and promptly reported.

It may be reminded that initial tests, carried in Georgia for ASF in
April/May 2007, were -- reportedly -- found negative. We take the liberty
to recommend that other countries, experiencing unusual disease occurrence
in swine, will follow Georgia's example and submit samples for confirmation
to one of OIE's reference laboratories even if initial tests in national
laboratories are found negative. - Mod.AS].

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/promed..._ID:1000,37900